After a serious injury left him with limited mobility and unable to continue working in film and television, James Collins used his graphic design knowledge to launch Simply Design, a design service for local businesses, in September 2011.

Collins soon found himself taking print orders and invested in a small SRA3 printer and began offering design and print as a service. By 2012 he needed to move to a larger 220sqm premises where the company evolved into Print Shop Express, offering print and signage across the UK.

In the past decade the business, which he now runs with his wife Holly, has grown to include design, print, signs and vehicle graphics to an international client-base.

Collins said that celebrating a decade in business had been put on hold last year while a return to normality after the pandemic was still taking place.

“Now that life is mostly back to normal, it means that we can mark our success and people are free to come and see us,” he told Printweek.

“Customer service should be the kingpin of any business. That coupled with the desire to always offer the best product at a fair price has been the key to our continued growth year-on-year.”

Continual investment has been key to the success of the business, Collins explained, with latest spends including a Ricoh Pro C7200 digital printer, upgraded from a Pro C7100 in October 2021, as well as an upgrade of its wide-format firepower in July 2021 with a Roland DG TrueVis 2.

The site also runs a raft of finishing kit including an Easymount hot and cold roll laminator, a Secabo heat press, a Matrix laminator, Morgana auto creaser and Morgana folder, an EBA laminator and a Foldnak booklet finisher, as well as four iMacs in its design suite.

Collins said: “When I started Print Shop Express, I had less than £250 to invest and had no idea that it would grow in such a positive way. We are completely independent with no outside investment and despite starting up at the tail end of a recession and more recently navigating a global pandemic, we have become the trusted option for so many businesses and our success is attributed to them.

“We are immensely proud of our local and national client base - we strive to put time, effort and care into them and their businesses and will continue to do so into the future.”